The overall objective of this project is to analyze a French region's fertility patterns in the second half of the nineteenth century. The region is at once an exception to the general French pattern of early fertility decline, and a classic example of the European pattern of late nineteenth-century fertility decline. The aims, then, are to contribute to an understanding of the modern decline of fertility in Europe, and indirectly to help explain the early decline of fertility in France. A multivariate analysis of fertility variations within the region in the mid-nineteenth century has already been completed, as has a preliminary study of the decline of fertility in the region. Funding for the first year's work on the project has made it possible to prepare a similar analysis of fertility variations at the end of the nineteenth century, and has enabled further exploration of the context of fertility change through research in French archives and libraries. First year funding is also making possible the analysis of selected manuscript census returns in order to generate detailed data on family, occupational, and social structure. A second year's funding will enable the completion of the research and the preparation of a manuscript summarizing the results.